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Game 5 Part 1 Gathering the Forces
Shift 5 Saturday, 8.14.2189 (Noon, extremely hot and dry, no winds) Noon With the sun almost at its zenith, the heatwave that was growing from sunrise is now at its peak. With no wind, clouds, or rain to stave off the intense temperatures, standing outside without special protection becomes very difficult. At times like these, most people spend their time indoors or in the lower warrens of the city where the sun does not reach. For those who hiding away is not an option, still suits are worn with day/night goggles to protect from the dangerous environment. The heat also does a effective job at raising tension in the city as Ishtarian soldiers attempt to control the populace. The soldiers are quick to exact their sense of justice in order to stay out of the sun as much as possible. * Give the players some time to adjust. Remind them that they have all of Saturday and most of Sunday to prepare for the arms deal. They can try to acquire equipment and train their skills in this time. * Ace will receive a message from his boss, Clint Ford, that he has a new assignment. He is to meet him at the Valley tomorrow around 1200. He will be assignment guard duty for a shipment and will receive more details when he shows up. * Any player who wishes to spend any extended time out in the open must make a Survival Test (4) for wearing a still suit in order to avoid ill effects from the heat. If failed, the player must take a Fitness Test (4). Passing means the character becomes exhausted an must find cover soon. Failing means the character will pass out from heat exhaustion. * If any players leave the Junkyard and go into the city, they will see a number of water riots break out. Damage from the invasion destroyed many parts of the city's infrastructure, including many of its pump stations. Ishtarian soldiers and Ionian police are attempting to hand out water, but the supplies are limited and the crowds are growing. * If the players decide to interact with the water riots, a water truck pulls up near by to provide for the crowd. However, the truck is owned by the Nolte's Boys. They are charging people instead of giving it away for free and they are violently abusing those who showed up without money. * At the end of the Shift is High Noon: Despite the oppressive heat and ceaselessly glaring sun, groups of people start to congregate in the more open areas of the city. Consisting mostly of wastelanders and religious fanatics, this scrappy crowd assembles together with their hands raised high in the sky. Chanting old Venusian mantras and shaking metal chimes, the crowd praises the sun. * If any of the characters want to talk to the people praising the sun, they will learn that the ceremony is both in reverence of the sun and in fear of it. The sun is treated like a god of judgment, weeding out the weak from the strong. Those who cannot bear the sun are not expected to last on this world. This zenith celebration is seen as a trial on the body to prove that one is worthy to live on Venus. Shift 6 Sunday, 8.15.2189 (Noon, extremely hot and dry, no winds) The Valley Underworld The Valley is much less populated than just a few shifts ago. The midday heat is too much to bear for most people to spend extended time outside. Most shops are closed on high noon and those that remain open are careful to protect themselves from the oppressive heat. * When Ace shows up, Clint Ford will be waiting for him. Clint has a small convoy of trucks lined up in the streets. He tells Ace that the assignment is to protect an Ishtarian assets during a trade deal. He admits that this is not completely legit, but that its good money and its work for Ishtarians, so they should be safe, legally speaking. * Clint hands Ace a photo, which Ace immediately recognizes are Rakken. The job is to meet Rakken with his crew in a secret location written on the photo (Harper Station). There, he will guard Rakken personally while he makes a purchase for the military. After the deal is done, he is to load up into his mech and protect Rakken's truck. Surprisingly, Red is waiting near his shop with little sign that the temperature is effecting him. He is wearing his day/night goggles, but other than that, he is only dressed in his work overalls. Smiling at the crew as they approach, he waves them toward the shop. "Kinda bright out here, ain't it?" He lamely jokes. "This is the best time for meetings like these...not to many people out and about and nobody feels like doing anything when your sweating you ass off. But I'm sure you already know that, so lets get inside." Red's shop looks more like a shack with random baubles of little value hanging on its walls. Smiling, he lifts up small statuette while turning a light fixture on its side. His motions trigger a hidden door to open up behind metal shelf. The doorway leads down a long descending hallway for a few hundred feet before ending in a large open abandoned rail station. The cavernous tunnel is dimly lit by portable lamps and extends far into the darkness in both direction. The lamps lead a path into an archway on the other side of the rails. Not visible from the across the railway, the archway is blocked by a impenetrable looking security door. Its clear that the barricade was put in place long after this station was shut down, and its build is reminiscent of a bank vault door. Red approaches the metal portal and inserts a data card into a slot. There is a knocking and clanking sound on the other side, followed by a view slot opening up. No face can be seen, but a whispered voice asks for tickets as a drop box suddenly pops open below. The drop box and slot quickly slam shut once the tickets are deposited, and the door begins is slow and loud process of unlocking. The bars, locks, and latches finally cycle through after what seems like an eternity, and the massive vault door slowly swings open, revealing bright lights, music, and sweet smoky air. Harper's Station Stepping through reveals another rail station tunnel, but instead of being a dead and foreboding cave, this section has been completely converted into a lavish hallway. A wide variety of vice and entertainment dots the station, such as dice and card tables, nude dancers, and fully stocked bars full of drinks from all over Venus and even rare Earth brands. The crowd itself is very eclectic. Men and women in their best formal wear walk side by side desert scorched wastelanders, though in either case, its apparent that they all have great wealth. Large stacks of money are changing hands as often as the drinks. Surrounding the entire event are the easily distinguishable guards. Each stands at least 7 feet tall, broad at the shoulders, covered in armour, and colored in black and gold. They all have their faces completely covered with armored helmets and are armed with assault rifles. At the furthest end of the grand display is a decorated stage with a man and a woman standing, overlooking the event. The man is dressed in the newest hip fashion, along with his slicked hair, exotic dingies, and tattoo head. He is smoking a cigarette, held in an advance cybernetic hand. His companion is even more striking, dressed in a skin tight body suit and leather jacket. She is armed with a sidearm and a long katana like blade on her back. Most noticeable of all, though, are the rows of small horns around the crown of her head. The protrusions are clearly a violation of human genetic engineering laws. Such brazen displays would be hard to hide from the authorities, so it is likely that the woman spends very little time outside of the underworld. * Give the players a chance to explore the area and mingle. * If any of the players want information, they will easily find help from any of the waitstaff. The auction will start at 1400. Open bar. There are a number of private rooms available. Please do not attempt to circumvent the guards, they are "programmed" to be aggressive in their tactics. If you decide to leave, there is no reentry without a new ticket. After the auction, the guards will assist in moving your purchases to your transports, which can be stationed at a nearby satellite station. * The man on the stage is Grit Harper, the notorious smuggler and arms dealer who owns and operates this underground facility. His companion and loyal bodyguard is the ferocious Celestine. Rumor is that she isn't even a human, but a complete (and very illegal) mechanoid. * People of note in the crowd: a small but very rich gang of Lian Hua nationals, a few wasteland warlords, some very rich aristocrats, and a large number of security firms (many of which left the guild and are not working for Ishtar). One thing that almost everyone will mention is that they are stuck in this city and that these sales might help them shake things up. *There is a very suspicious looking man who will approach Black Eagle. He is dressed in very normal looking clothes, compared to the strange crowd around him. His skin is very pallid and he has a stiffness to his gate. He will ask Black Eagle if she would like to speak to her children. She will quickly agree, but he will tell her that she must meet them in their private room. **The man is actually a mechanoid build by the children named Hommes. Sprocket and Spanner as well as two other children have hold themselves up in their private room and have sent Hommes to do their bidding. When Black Eagle meets them, they will apologize for all the trouble they caused, but they are working to figure out a way to escape from the city and from the system designed to turn them into raiders for the Twin Cobras. **The children have been a part of one of Rakken and Dr. Ventura's special programs, designed to cyberneticly enhance raiders from a young age so that they will be smarter and more efficient killers. The medical procedures and drugs have caused them a lot of pain, but they worked. With accelerated intelligence, the children have secured stolen funds, constructed a mechanoid, and are currently working on a mech that they will use to punch through the blockades and escape Io. They are at the auction to acquire a neural interface, a device that would allow a mech pilot to directly interact with his neural net computer, greatly enhancing its handling. **The children did steal Ace's computer, though they have already used it to make their own copy. They will gladly return it to him, though they will be very impressed by its inner workings. They will ask him if he would be interested in helping them pilot their mech for their escape. *Rakken appears from the crowd with two of his henchman and approaches Ace. He tells Ace that although he technically was hired to be a bodyguard, Rakken only agreed to it because the Ishtarians wanted a third party watching over him. He hands Ace a stack of 200 Marks and tells him that his services won't be needed until they move his purchase. He might not need a babysitter, but he won't turn down an armed mech to protect his buy. **If any of the characters decided to keep track of Rakken, they will find him walking back to his private room while talking to another man, Dr. Ventura. They are going to discuss what kind of price the Ishtarians are willing to pay for the mind-hack lab that Harper is selling. *There is also a gaggle of Nolte's Boys. They are keeping mostly to themselves, though a couple has drifted off to play some games of chance. They are getting very swept up gambling and appear to be intoxicated. **The Nolte's Boys are at the auction to buy firearms. Mostly armed with clubs and blades, the gang has decided to ramp up its offensive abilities by arming themselves with proper weapons. **The particular members at this auction do not personally know Moose or his crew nor would their immediately recognize them, though they are aware of his involvement with the Malkovich's and the attacks they made on the Boys. If they somehow realize who Moose is, they will blow their operation and attempt to start a fight with him. If a fight does escalate and Moose's crew are respectful, Celestine will intervene, quickly slicing the hand off of one of the Boys and demanding that they leave. *The players have to chance to look over the itinerary for the auction: **Ishtarian basic firearms **A rare T-980 Nimbus Assault Mech **Four cases of pure Earth grade heroin totaling 100lbs **A neural interface **A completely function neural hack lab **A modular rail gun, designed to be mounted on a mech **A Tyrian sex cyborg, custom build and capable of passing all basic bio-metric scans. *After an hour of mingling, the auction will begin. Auction With his patrons drunk on alcohol and their winnings, Grit Harper pulls up a microphone and calls order to the room. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, and whatever those creepy guys over there" he says, pointing to a group of particularly gruff wastelanders. "I know you are all excited and anxious to get this auction going, and you know I don't like to fuck around, so lets get right into it. I think you all know how these things work, but I should remind you that all sales are final and all debts WILL be paid." "First up we have some fine fire arms, acquired from a local Ishtarian patrol. This is top notch military grade weaponry. Eight cases of assault rifles and infantry grenade launchers. The starting bid is 30,000 Marks" * The bidding will go up to 50,000 before the last buyer gives up, going to the Nolte's Boys (assuming they are still present), or some raiders otherwise. "Ok, next up we have a very rare, very sought after T-980 Nimbus Assault Mech. These babies were one of the first Hounds developed by the Ishtarians and still stands as a testament to their awesome power. Most of these mechs were either destroyed or have been decommissioned, so this is a great find. Starting bid is at 800,000 Marks" * Bidding will go up to 1,000,000 Marks and will be bought by a eccentric arts dealer. He will make some grand gesture that he will use the machine in his next installment speaking about the pointlessness of war. Many in the crowd will be angry and confused, causing a lot of grumbling. "Here's a real treat for you. Here we have four cases of high quality brown magic. Weighing in at 100lbs, this heroin is direct from the source, a special farm on Earth that we have exclusive rights to, so we know the quality is bar none. We have a great deal today. Only 50,000 for the lot. The street value could increase the final price by over 80%, so this is a steal." * Bidding will go up to 70,000 and will be bought by a very lavishly dressed woman. She will silently pay her bill. "Ok, here is a very special piece of equipment. This is a highly experimental neural interface created right here in Io. Though the device has never seen use in the field, it is completely vetted by the lab techs we robbed it from. With this neural interface, you will be able to operate a mech as if it were an extension of your own body. This is a must have for any aspiring mercenaries who need that upper edge. Bidding starts at 25,000" * No matter how much anyone bids, Hommes will always outbid them. He will win the auction and silently take his prize. "Well, if you thought the last item was interesting, you might be even more excited by what we have next. If you are trying to strike fear in your enemies or you just need to make one of your workers a bit more complacent, this complete neural hack lab will fulfill your every desire. This is extremely delicate and technical equipment here, so make sure you have a lab tech who knows what they are doing. But you will not be displeased with the results when you send your own enemy's men into their hideouts and blow them up from the inside out. Bidding starts at 1,000,000 Marks" * No matter how much anyone bids, Rakken will outbid them. When he wins, he will go and joke "Just what I always wanted. Now, don't any of you assholes try to fuck with us, or you might end up with a Mord blasting your ass through your brain case." He laughs at his own dark joke * Rakken will find Ace and tell him that they will be leaving as soon as the auction is over. He is to meet Rakken at the north gate where the lab will be loaded into their truck. Ace's job will be to stand guard and protect the truck until it leaves the station, securing their exit if something goes wrong. Rakken then walks back to his private room to talk to Dr. Ventura. "Next on the lot is a nasty piece of equipment. Here we have a next generation rail gun. This weapon fires depleted uranium rounds that are accelerated by a magnetic rail at speeds so high, it will punch through a tank, another tank, a military barricade, and a mountain in one go. Well, results may vary, but there aren't many weapons more deadly than this baby. This particular cannon was designed to be attached to a heavy mech for rapid lethal strikes. How you want to use it is completely up to you. Bidding starts at 20,000 * Bids for the railgun will be slow. They won't go above 25,000. If the players are out bid, the two other highest bidders will get into a fight, ending in one killing the other and Harper's security then killing him. Since the players would have the last highest bid, they will win. "The final item, and my personal favorite, is this lovely work of art over here" Harper says, gesturing to a woman who walks onto the stage. She is extremely attractive and is wearing only a bathrobe. Harper dramatically draws away the robe to expose her naked body, though she does not react in the slightest. "This beauty is a finely crafted genuine Tyrian mechanoid. You know that tech doesn't get any better than Tyrian hardware. This particularly machine was originally programed as an experimental device for human psychology. We have repurposed her as a personal sex slave, willing AND capable of doing anything you can imagine, as long as its with a woman. And don't fret about whether you will be caught with this highly illegal machine. Its skin and output interfaces have been designed to fool all but the most advance bio-metric scans. Unless the authorities decided to slice her open, no one will be the wiser. Her personality is one of the most advanced we have ever seen, so you won't have to worry about a stiff personality giving her away either. She was programmed to go by the name Nebiria, but once you buy her you can call her whatever the hell you want. Due to the sensitive nature of this machine, bidding will start at 2,000,000 Marks." * The crowd is clearly ecstatic at the marvel of modern technology. Though mechanoids are real, they are almost never seen by the public and Civilian ownership of a mechanoid is very illegal, even more than extreme body mods. Even though most of the patrons won't or can't participate in the final auction, the handful of rich and powerful players still in the game are causing a lot of excitement with their bidding war. The price quickly reaches 6 million marks before almost all the buyers give up. Two people remain, a posh man in a business suit and one of the most grizzled wastelanders in the whole room. Just as they seem to be reaching an end, a third man puts in an offer of 10 million marks. The third man had not taken part in the auction up to this point. It is hard to see what he looks like, as he is wearing a dark overcoat and a very wide brimmed black hat. With the room bursting with voices, the man approaches the stage, drops a large bag of cash in front of Harper, and takes the mechanoid's hand, walking off the stage. * If any of the players try to approach the man, he will make a steady but calm b-line to the exit. If he is addressed, they will see that the buyer is Miguel Banderas, the former head of the Mercenary's Union. If pressed on the matter, he will explain that the mechanoid is much more than she appears. He can't talk now, but if the players are truly interested in helping Aphrodia break free of Ishtar's control, they will let him pass. If they agree, he will tell them that he will sent them a message to meet him when things are safe enough talk. Set Up With the final sale, the room is full of energy. Many of the patrons, drunk with their purchases, turn back to the open bars to celebrate their haul. Grit Harper and his companion Celestine descend from the stage to mingle with the crowd. The mood is surprisingly cheery considering the dark and twisted nature of the visitors and the sales. * The children approach Black Eagle again and tell her that its important to leave as soon as possible. * Rakken comes out from his private room, talking into his data pad. Looking smug, he puts in the order for Ishtarian forces, stationed around the event, to make their move to assault the den of criminals. He will bark orders at Ace to hurry up if he has not already prepared to guard the truck. A number of loud explosions can be heard from all corners of the old rail station. The playful murmuring quickly turns to screaming as the crowd falls in on itself to avoid the bright flashes and smoke blasting from the various exits. In an instant, the room turns into a madhouse. Every big headed personality starts to scramble to save their own asses as heavily armed and armoured Ishtarian troops flood into the station. Gunshots start to ring out in all directions. Harper's intimidating armed security open fires, nearly wasting the entire first wave of Ishtarian forces. However, its clear that there is a concerted effort to take this scene down as more troops pour over their dead. A very loud bang echoes out as one of the larger entrances blasts apart to reveal a small but well armed Ishtarian Hound plows into the room, tearing apart the nearest security like tissue paper with with autocannon. * Give the players the opportunity to escape, but stop them short with a handful of Ishtarian soldiers. * The Ishtarian's main focus is on Harper and his security team. * Just as Rakken gets the last of his equipment into his truck, a contingency of Harper's security, consisting of 6 heavy armored troops, blocks the exit from the dock. ** "That's the asshole with the data link," one of the security team yells, "he's the one putting off an unverified signal. If anyone set us up, its gotta be him. Get him boys!" Consolidation After a daring escape from Harper's Station, the team manages to find safe haven once again. Though the Ishtarian forces were on high alert, it seems as if their primary target was Harper and his crew. There doesn't seem to be any sign that Moose or his company has been made by the Ishtarians. Barely escaping with their lives, the team is free to go about their business. * The team has 1 week (Saturday 8/21) until Sgt. Kurt Sutherland shows up for his final inspection and approval of Moose's security clearance. * After hearing about what Moose and his team went through at the auction, as well as their work with the Malkovich's, Hatchet seems much more interested in their affairs. He never really expected Moose or his friends to accomplish much, but their tenacity and willingness to get dirty has inspired Hatchet. He is willing to make a deal that will greatly help the cause. In exchange for a promise to fight Ishtar and remove them from the city, Hatchet is willing to sell Moose the Junkyard as a negligible price. If Moose agrees, Hatchet will show them a secret he has been keeping. ** Hidden beneath a fake pile of rubbish deep in his yard, there is a large access door that leads down to a expansive warehouse. Dutch had convinced Hatchet to build the structure, but never told him what for. Its large enough to store all the equipment from the weapons cache and some. Mole Friday, 8.20.2189 (Sun is very low in the sky, temperature is still high, but slowly dropping, winds are picking up and clouds are becoming more prevalent) Its been almost a week since the auction and the final inspection is just around the corner. As the week has passed, so has the weather. The sun is now on its final approach to the horizon, bringing with it cooler air, a slight but building breeze, and an overall easing of tensions around the city. No longer bearing the oppressive heat of the mid day, many people, including the Ishtarian forces, have relaxed significantly. As the race team works diligently to make sure that nothing of any suspicion is laying around and that all of the illegal equipment has been stored in the underground warehouse, a loud fight breaks out in the mess hall. Encircled by his teammates, one of the younger racers is panicking, looking for an exit. The other racers are grabbing and yelling at him, forcing him around like a pinball. He desperately screams for them to stop. * If the players do not stop the fight, then Mina, the team medic, will intervene. * The racer, named Travis, quickly admits that he has been blackmailed. He tells the players that his mother and sister have been kidnapped by the Nolte's Boys in order to figure out where to hit Moose. They wanted to find some place that he though was safe so that they could catch him off guard. He also admitted to the Nolte's that Moose is an Aphrodian sympathizer, something the Ishtarians would be interested in hearing. ** When pressed, he will say that the only people he told this to are a group of Nolte's boys who are hiding at the radio tower on the hill to the east. They are currently scouting the junkyard to track Moose's movements and to find tangible evidence of his rebellious acts in order to curry favor from the Istharians. ** The Nolte's will be hiding at the radio station with 10 men, a buggy, and a light mech. If they are attacked, the Mech will provide covering fire as the buggy makes a get away. Inspection Saturday 8.21.2189 (Sunset, cool temperature, heavy winds and heavy rain) The day of the final inspection has arrived just as the micro-seasonal rains begin to pour down on the city. As with every sunset, the populace is out in celebration at the coming night and rains. Though hard to see in the downpour, the high beams of Ishtarian trucks leads their way into the Junkyard. Sgt. Kurt Sutherland steps out to meet Moose and Hatchet. * If the Nolte's Boys made their escape, they will quietly send a message just as the inspection arrives. It says "We know who you are really working for, so if you don't want us to completely fuck you up, you will start obeying our demands. We won't ruin your inspection, but we'll be coming to collect on your debt soon." * If Rakken has figured out that Moose is working to fight the Ishtarians, he will blackmail Moose. Just before the inspection, Moose will receive a message "This is your good buddy Rakken, just to let you know that I know what you are planning. Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble. Just keep in mind who is watching your ass when I decided to collect." * If the Ishtarians figure out the plan, they will attack the Junkyard. After a thorough inspection, the Ishtarian forces have found nothing of interest. Moose's work clearing the Stadium has been going well and his background check has been cleared. Though the Sgt. does not seem too excited to be contracting Aphrodians, he hands over to Moose his official paperwork. With these papers, Moose's salvage business is completely legit. With their employee IDs, Moose's company will have greater access to the city, will no longer get held up with standard check points, and will now be receiving orders directly from the Sgt. "Congratulations, it appears will are in business. Your assigned security team will be moved to where they are more needed. You will need to provide your own security for most of your jobs, though we will still be regularly checking up to make sure everything is running by the book. Enjoy your new contract, Mr. Rawhide."